By this time, Joy has two kids and has started inventing things, the latest of which is a super-mop, with detachable, washable head.

When a TV ad company headed by Neil Walker (Cooper) botches the selling of it, Joy persuades him to give her a second chance, with herself as the salesgirl. After a hesitant start, sales go through the roof, and she she gets her father's latest paramour (Rossellini) to bankroll her new company.

Things go badly wrong, however, no little thanks to her interfering half-sister (Röhm), but Joy, though forced to declare bankruptcy,
is not beaten...

Lawrence is up for this one all right, and Russell's glorious screenplay wastes not a single word in the telling of Joy's story. His direction, too, is right on the mark, making every scene tell, and, when appropriate, letting Gran's narration carry the story.

True, there's a good deal of 'That's Life' feelbad in what finally emerges as one hell of a feelgood story.